The Colour of a Rose
by CameronNightshade
Summary: Ruby Rose isn't who everyone believes that she is. To everyone at Beacon, she is just a normal girl training to be a Huntress. But she has a dark secret that she is hiding from the students at Beacon Academy. *Slight Rosewick, will become more prominent later on*
1. Chapter 1

Ruby Rose. 19 years old. If she was good at one thing, it was going undercover. She had done it many times; being a cop, catching the bad guys at whatever evil thing that they were doing. But this time, she was approached with a very different kind of undercover.

"Rose, you need to go undercover at Beacon Academy," Cinder Fall said.

It's true, Ruby looked strangely young for her age. She could easily pass as a 17 year old girl. There was one problem though. "Transcripts. I can't get into the Academy without them."

Cinder only grinned. "Already covered. This won't be a problem, will it, Rose?"

Ruby shook her head. She knew that she is the only one that could pull it off without anything getting in her way. The new school year was closing in, and the White Fang needed someone on the inside. Rumour had it that the youngest Schnee heiress was going to attend the school. No one really understood why she just didn't attend the Academy situated in Atlas, but either way, they needed someone on the inside who could get ahold of all the shipments of Dust that would be coming in.

"It won't be a problem, ma'am. All I need is background information, and I believe that we should be set," Ruby said, getting up from the hard chair that she was sitting on. If there was one thing she hated about Cinder's office was the chairs.

"It will all be sent to you tonight. You may go now," Cinder concluded, looking at her employee.

Ruby nodded, and turned on her heels. As she made her way to her room, she began to think about how she would fit in at the school. Yes, it was a bunch of 17 year old kids, who were probably all pretty mature, but she was older than them, and more formal. She looked down at her wardrobe. A black shirt, with an accompanying blazer, black dress pants, and black heels. Not exactly a huntress-esque wardrobe.

When she finally got to her room, she searched through her closet to find something that would work. It wasn't as if she didn't have a lot of clothing, but her clothing wasn't exactly equipped for battle. She knew that hunter and huntress clothing was usually specially made to withstand excessive heat, and wasn't prone to tearing much. Ruby's wardrobe was pretty simple, and was not made for hunting down, and killing Grimm.

"I never thought I would see you staring at clothes so intently, Red. You never struck me as a 'what shall I wear today?' type of girl," a man at the doorway commented.

"You know Roman, my clothes aren't exactly made for a Huntress. More of a 'keep Roman Torchwick out of trouble, and don't bring too much attention to yourself' type of feel. Wouldn't you agree?" Ruby said.

Roman laughed at her comment. "If it wasn't for you, I would be in jail a lot more. But why would you want clothes made for a huntress?"

Ruby turned around, closing her closet door. She sat down on her bed, where Roman quickly followed. "I'm going out on an assignment. I'm going undercover as a student at Beacon. I'll be starting there when the school year begins. I don't even know what to wear. My clothes aren't made to handle the wear and tear of a huntress," Ruby sighed, leaning her head against Roman's shoulder.

"I didn't know the life of Ruby Rose was so complicated," Roman laughed.

Ruby looked up at her partner. "It's not. It's just that I don't know how to fit in there at all. They are all there to stop the evil, and I am the evil," she sighed.

Roman made eye contact with Ruby. "You aren't the evil. You're- you're the accessory to the evil."

Ruby groaned and went back to searching her closet. After going through everything she owned, she turned around. "I need to go shopping for huntress clothes. I need to fit in and have clothes that won't disintegrate."

"I wouldn't mind if you had disintegrating clothes," Roman smirked. With that comment, he was hit with a jacket that Ruby had pulled out.

"Watch your tongue, Roman," Cinder interjected.

"Cinder!" Ruby exclaimed.

Cinder held up a hand. "I have come bearing your information for this assignment. You also have been given some money to get some equipment, and clothing for Huntresses. I expect you back within a few hours," Cinder notified. With that, she turned around, glared at Roman, and walked out.

"What's up with you and Cinder? It looks like you messed up on a job or something," Ruby commented.

"The Queen thinks that I am not handling my job well and are letting my personal feelings get in the way of business matters. She doesn't want any job to have a slip-up."

"She never was the 'fun' type. Well, I must be going. I have to go out and pick out some clothing. I'll be back," Ruby said. She walked over to Roman and kissed him on the cheek goodbye.

Ruby walked down the streets of downtown Vale, going towards one of the very few clothing stores for Huntresses. When she finally got to the store, she opened the door and took a look around.

One thing that she didn't know much about with clothing is how well she would be able to move. She knew very basic Huntress training, and would easily be able to fit in to make it look like she had been doing this for years.

"Welcome! Do you need any assistance today?" a store clerk said as she walked up to Ruby.

"Yeah. Well, I don't know what I should get. I've had some Huntress clothing before but I didn't really end up liking it very much. And now that I'm going to Beacon, I need something that will last longer, and preferably last much longer. So, do you have anything that would work with my situation?" Ruby asked, trying to make it seem like she at least somewhat knew what she was doing.

"Oh course! I'll have you know that Weiss Schnee shopped here just the other day, so our products are the very best!" he exclaimed. "Well, what type of clothing are you looking for? something basic, like jeans and shirts, skirts, dresses, what works best with you?"

Ruby looked around at the type of clothing that was sold at this shop. She wasn't exactly sure what would work best with her. The only time she ever wore something interesting was to a party. She mostly wore her suit.

"I think a dress might work well. Suits look nice and all, but they don't work very well when you are fighting Grimm," she said. It was true. She had fought Grimm before in her suit, and it did not work out well in the end.

She followed the employee over to the dresses. As she perused the clothing, she came across a simple black dress with a red lining, and a corset waist. "May I try that one on?" she asked the employee.

"Of course!" the employee said a little too estatically. Ruby grabbed the dress and walked over to the changing rooms. As she was putting on the dress, she realised that it was missing little things that would really make it hers. But she liked it.

She walked out of the dressing room once again wearing her suit. "So how do you like it?" the employee asked.

"I like it. It's just missing a few things. Do you have belts here? I have things that I will need to carry for my weapon, but this doesn't have anywhere to attach it. My belts won't work well with this."

The employee grabbed Ruby's hand and guided her over to the belts that they had. Almost none of them had the appeal that Ruby was looking for. She was going to a school for Huntresses, she didn't need to look too fancy like she did now. One plain belt with bullets on the side caught her eye.

"I like this one," Ruby said as she grabbed it off of the hook. She knew it was really plain, but she felt that it would fit well with the dress that she had bought.

"Great choice, ma'am. Will you be needing any other assistance today?" the employee asked happily.

"Can you show me where the shoes are?"

"Right this way," the employee brought her over to the large collection of boots, heels, running shoes. If you could think of it, they probably had it. "When you are done, please come see me at the register!"

"Thank you," Ruby said as she turned away to look at the large array of shoes. Seeming that she had a black dress, it only seemed fitting that she would have black shoes as well.

Walking along the racks of the shoes, she contemplated buying heels to go along with her dress. As she thought about it more, the constant running could break a heel, and being a Huntress means falling a lot. Ruby decided that a boot would be better. Soon, she came across a simple boot with a red undertone, and red shoelaces. After she tried them on to see if they would fit, she brought them to the counter.

"Will this be all for you ma'am?" the employee asked.

"Yes, thank you."

After Ruby paid with a money that Cinder had given her, she slowly made her way back to her room in the small building that the White Fang had 'bought' out. As she made her way there, she wondered on how she would be able to pull this off. She knew that people were divided into teams, and Cinder would definitely want to know what was going on there. Roman would probably want to talk to her as well.

Ruby knew that she had her own personal scroll, and one would be provided from the school. "Maybe I'll just use my own scroll for my personal life, and the provided scroll for my secret life," Ruby laughed.

When she finally made it back to her apartment, she hung her new clothes in the closet, and looked to see if there was anything she thought she would like to add to the dress. Right in the back of her closet she noticed a red cape. She had put it in the back of her closet for a reason. Her mother had given her that cape.

" _Ruby, you are part of the Rose family, and with that, you get a cape. Whether you wear that or not is your choice, but you should always keep it to remember who you are."_

" _So I can be like you!" Ruby said happily._

" _Exactly," Summer said as she picked up her daughter._

She wore it up until she joined in with Roman and Cinder. She felt that once she joined in with the White Fang, she didn't really have the right to call herself part of the family. They fought against the new White Fang, and her Ruby was, working with them to help them steal Dust from the Schnee's.

She put the cloak on her shoulders and attached it to her shirt. It hung loosely around her body, just barely not touching the floor. The warmth of the cloak made her feel like she had a family again. She considered Roman to basically be her family, but it just didn't feel the same to her.

The cape is the last thing that she had from her mother after she died. Ruby didn't know who her dad was, and Summer didn't have many friends. Her team had split apart when Ruby was really young and they didn't have a lot of contact after that.

When Summer had died, Ruby was left on her own. Being 10 years old and living on the streets wasn't exactly easy. When Ruby was 12, she happened upon Roman when he was robbing one of the Dust stores in Vale.

Roman had taken her in, much to the annoyance of Cinder. She didn't want to have to care for a scrawny 12 year old, but she would soon learn that Ruby was very good at hiding, and stealing things.

Roman had helped Ruby build her insanely large scythe, which he nicknamed "the oversized gardening tool". Ruby spent a lot of time thinking of a name for her weapon. She knew she wanted it to have part of her name, Rose. After Roman suggested the name "Crescent", she decided that would be a great name.

"Ruby? Are you alright?" Roman asked as he stepped into Ruby's room.

"Roman!" she squeaked. "Yes, I'm okay," she said as she removed the cape from herself.

"You're crying," Roman mentioned. Ruby moved her hand up to her eye to see if she actually was crying. As she brought her hand away and looked at it, she saw that her hand was wet.

"Oh. I was just thinking about my mom."

Roman walked over to Ruby and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry."

Ruby wiped the tears away from her face. "It's okay."

A sharp knock came from the door. Ruby pulled away from Roman and walked to the door. When she opened it, she saw Perry, one of the members of the White Fang. "Yes?" Ruby asked.

"Cinder has requested your presence," Perry said. "Am I interrupting something?" he said as he looked at Ruby's reddened eyes.

"No, it's okay. Roman, I'll be back," Ruby said as she walked away with Perry.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So idk how I feel about this chapter. I like it, but I feel like it could be better. So I might go back in and edit it later. As always, I appreciate your comments, and I hope you like this chapter! Sorry if the characters seem a bit OOC, I just couldn't work it in correctly if they were in character**

Perry opened the large door to Cinder's office. "I've brought her, Ms. Fall," Perry said as he ushered Ruby inside.

"Thank you, Perry. You may go now," Cinder waved him away.

Ruby walked up the the chair in front of Cinder's desk. "You asked for me?"

"Yes. Although you will be going undercover, I do expect you to report back to me sometimes so I know what is going on. I know that the Hunters and Huntresses of the Academy are trying to find out whereabouts. And I do hope that you won't lead them here. Am I correct in assuming that?" Cinder asked as she stared Ruby down.

"Yes, ma'am. Will there be anything else?"

"You will be heading to Beacon in two days time. I sent your transcripts in a few months ago, and I was just told when you are expected to be there. There will be a drop ship landing in the middle of town to pick you up then. You are now excused."

"Thank you, ma'am," Ruby said as she got up and left the office. When she got back to her room, she was surprised to see that Roman was still here.

"When are you leaving, Red?" Roman asked.

Ruby walked over to him and sat down on her bed. "Day after tomorrow. Beacon is bringing a drop ship to the middle of town to pick us up and bring us to the Academy."

Roman looked over at Ruby. "You shouldn't go. What if they find out who you are? That could be, and probably will be, disastrous for you, and the White Fang."

Ruby looked into his green eyes. "You know Cinder. She doesn't take no for an answer, and this could be fun. We will get intel into what the Academy is doing, and how they are proceeding with everything. This could be very good for us. And if Cinder is willing to take the risk, I am too," Ruby retorted. She loved Roman, and would usually listen to him, but this was different. This wasn't just her rushing into something. This was her being able to infiltrate one of the biggest communities in the Kingdoms.

That night, Ruby couldn't sleep. She was ready to go into Beacon, but she didn't know if Roman was ready for her to. He seriously opposed what she was doing, and made that very clear.

When she was finally asleep, she dreamt about what her life could be. What her life would be if her mother didn't die. Because of her mother's death, she didn't like Hunters and Huntresses very much. They weren't there for her mom. They certainly weren't there for Ruby. News of Hunters and Huntresses deaths travel quickly within the Kingdoms, and Summer's was one of the biggest. Her team had won in the Vytal Festival back when they were in training. Being only first years at the time, it made it that much more special. No other first year team had won the Vytal Festival before.

When the team broke up, the news shocked the world. People were trying to figure out what had happened. Summer had taken Ruby and essentially cut themselves off from the world. They lived in a small home, just on the edge of Vale. It was perfect for their small family.

Summer got a call on her Scroll one night, asking for assistance in a raid on a Grimm nest. She had opposed at first, but eventually gave in. Ruby later found out that she got the call from Qrow, the leader of team QRTS.

Summer never came home. Ruby only found out about her death when she was walking in town and saw a news headline about it. "Summer Rose killed in Grimm Raid. Child nowhere to be found." Ruby knew that that was a lie though. No one had come looking for her. And Qrow knew where Summer lived - he had come to pick her up for the mission.

Because of that, Ruby resented him. She also resented the rest of her mother's team. She couldn't figure out why they would allow a child to live on their own.

When Ruby woke up, she found a letter sitting on the black dresser near the door. It was signed by Cinder in her ever-so-elegant handwriting. When Ruby opened it, she noticed that there was only one line written down. "Come to my office at 9am. -Cinder Fall".

Ruby looked at her clock. The bright red numbers flashed 8:30. She sighed. Cinder had been talking to her every day since she was told about her mission, and Ruby felt that she knew everything that she needed to know.

When 9 came around, Ruby opened the door to Cinders office for the third time in just a few days. "You asked to speak to me," Ruby said as she closed the large faux-door behind her.

"Yes. Thank you, You may sit down," Cinder said as she grabbed some paperwork. "My sources have told me that the youngest heiress to the Schnee company, Weiss Schnee, will be attending Beacon with you. Also on that note, a former White Fang faunus, Blake Belladonna will be attending as well," Cinder moved the two folders towards Ruby.

As Ruby scanned the documents, Cinder continued on. "Blake Belladonna left us almost a year ago, and we have not been able to find her. Her former partner, now your partner, Adam Taurus, has been told about Blake attending the school. He has been told to make sure that you and Ms. Belladonna are safe."

"Why has he been instructed to make sure that Blake is safe? Don't you want her back here?" Ruby asked, not taking her eyes off the faunus' file.

"He is to make sure that she is safe, along with you, so that we can bring her in when the time is right. Although you are to keep her safe as well, you will be the one making sure she is delivered to Adam safely."

Ruby's eyes darted over to Weiss's file. 17. Semblance: glyphs. "What is it with the Schnee family and their Semblance? It's the same for all of them," Ruby commented.

"Ruby," Cinder said, reaching across the desk for Weiss's file. "There is more that you need to know. Raven Branwen. Former teammate of your mother. Her daughter, Yang Xiao Long is attending the school as well," Cinder mentioned.

"The only thing I could possibly get out of her is news about Mom's former team, and Qrow. He left me. And he deserves payback," Ruby snapped. "But that can wait for a later time," Ruby said, bringing herself back. "What do you need from me, exactly?"

Cinder looked at the young girl from across her amazingly clean desk. "Your job, is to make sure that you partner up with either the Schnee heiress, or Belladonna. Then, everything will fall into place just perfectly," Cinder smirked.

Ruby nodded her head in agreement. "That can be done. Is there anything else you need from me?" she questioned.

"That will be all. You may go now."

Ruby got up and walked towards the doors and left the room. She saw Adam leaning against the wall next to the doors. "Do you have to listen in on my conversations?" Ruby sneered.

Adam pushed himself off of the wall and walked over to Ruby. "I just wanted to know what Cinder told you about Blake."

Ruby began to walk back to her room while Adam followed her. "What, you got a crush on her or something?"

"N-no," Adam stuttered as his cheeks turned red. "She defected and as she is my former teammate, it is my job to make sure that she is alright. Even if she did decide to leave us and our cause."

Ruby looked straight ahead again as she walked up to her door. She took out a key from her suit breast pocket. "I know you want to make sure she is safe. But she is obviously safe since she has been able to get her way into Beacon. Don't worry. I'll make sure that she gets to you safely. Goodbye, Adam," Ruby said as she closed the door behind her.

As she walked into her spotless room, she went over to her closet and pulled out the dress she had bought the other day. She pulled it over her head and laced the corset waist. She wound the belt around her body and attached a magnetic metal clip to her back. On her side, she attached a pouch to hold rounds for her sniper-scythe.

She grabbed the red cape from the hanger and threw it around her body and attached it with silver crosses. She pulled on black nylons, and put on her shoes. She got up and walked out of her room and went to Roman's room.

Ruby didn't even bother knocking on her boyfriend's door. She just opened the door and found Roman sitting at his desk cleaning the inside of this cane. "Roman. I need to train. Let's go," Ruby said.

Roman chuckled. "Someone's dominant today," he said as he turned around. "What in Remnant are you wearing, Red?"

Ruby looked down at herself. "Is it that bad?" she asked, worried that she had bought a bad outfit.

"No," Roman said as he walked over to Ruby. "It's beautiful. I just never thought that I would see you wearing a dress sometime in your life."

"Oh. Yeah. I just thought it would be better because it gives me more room to move. Also it was made for huntresses. My suit isn't really made for the wear and tear that huntresses receive when they go out on missions," Ruby responded.

Roman hugged Ruby. "Okay. Let's go then," he said as he turned away to grab his cane.

Ruby turned around and made her way down to where most weapons are stored. She didn't really like keeping her weapon on her at all times because she had no place to put it on her person most of the time. She never really needed it anyway. She had another weapon if Crescent Rose was being worked on. She also had a rapier that would attach to a belt loop on her pants. Although she never really used it, it was there for her if she needed it.

When she grabbed Crescent Rose, she lead Roman outside and into the forest to a small area that she had cleared out a few years prior just for moments like this. When she got there, she loaded her gun, and added an ice dust crystal. She didn't originally have a place for dust to go on her weapon, but Cinder insisted that it would be a great addition to the scythe, and she could apply the dust to her own semblance if she did it correctly.

Ruby walked to one end of the circle, while Roman walked to the other side. "Whenever you're ready, Red," Roman said.

Ruby moved her scythe behind her and shot out a round. She flew forward towards Roman and flung her body around. Roman ducked and rolled out of the way before he could be hit. When he stood back up, he fired a shot towards Ruby.

With her scythe, she blocked the round. Roman fired against the ground, catapulting himself into the air to attack her from above. Ruby charged up her Semblance and jumped straight up. Firing her gun, she threw herself towards Roman, and kicked him so that he would fall to the ground.

When he crashed into the ground, Roman coughed. Ruby tactfully landed on top of him, immobilizing him. "Ow. You really didn't have to do that," he said as he winced.

"I win," Ruby said as she sat on top of Roman.

"Yes. Yes you do," Roman said as he sat up and kissed Ruby. "You win."

"Ruby? Roman? What are you doing out here?" a voice said from the edge of the clearing. "You're not doing anything inappropriate are you?" the voiced mocked.

"What do you want, Mercury?" Roman asked as he leaned on his hands.

"Cinder is looking for you, and she doesn't know where you're at. And I don't think you want to tell her about your little hiding spot here in the forest. So I suggest you come and talk to her before she comes looking for you out here," Mercury said as he turned and walked away.

"There are moments that I really hate Cinder. This would be one of them. Let's go," Roman groaned. Ruby got up and Roman followed suit. "You look good when you fight in that dress, just so you know," Roman smirked.

Ruby punched him in the arm. "Shut up."

Roman put his hands up in a defensive manner. "Just saying."

When Ruby got back into her room a few hours later, she began to grab some clothes and threw them in a bag. In a different bag, she packed necessities and anything extra she felt that she might want. Two bags packed full of stuff later, she made her way to the door to put her things down. On the way, she grabbed her wallet and she left her room.

As she walked around Vale to see if she could find dinner, she noticed Blake walking around town as well. Ruby took out her scroll, and took a picture of her. She then called Adam.

When he finally picked up the call, Ruby ducked into an alleyway to talk to him. "She's here in Vale."

"Who is in Vale?" Adam asked.

"Blake Belladonna. Your old partner. She's in Vale. I just saw her walking around," Ruby added.

"Is she stupid? Does she not realise that she is wanted by the White Fang? I know she's going to school here and all, but walking out in plain sight isn't exactly the smartest thing for her to do right now. She's such an idiot sometimes!" he ranted.

"Do you want me to get her? I am supposed to get her to Cinder," Ruby questioned.

"No. It would look too suspicious right now. She would probably run once you asked her to walk with you. She may be an idiot, but she's brilliant. Just wait until you get to know her at Beacon. Then it will seem completely normal when you want to go on a walk with her to us," Adam warned. "Come back to headquarters. Cinder will want to know this," and with that, Adam hung up.

Ruby made her way back home. When she reached Cinder's office, she knocked on the door. "Come in, Rose."

When Ruby opened the door, she saw Adam sitting there as well. "I saw Blake Belladonna walking in the streets of Vale today. I have proof," she said as she pulled out her Scroll. She found the photo that she was looking for, and showed it to Cinder.

"What an interesting development. I wonder if she has been hiding out here in Vale since she defected. Thank you, Rose. You may leave now," Cinder commented.

"Yes, ma'am," Ruby said as she walked out.

When she got back to her room, she laid down and quickly fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: so sorry for the long wait for this chapter, I could not figure out how I wanted to to go. And oh my God the finale killed me. It totally ruined the way I was going to end this story! But I'll figure it out when I get there. I don't know how much of the episodes I will skip of this story, because Volume 2 won't be that important for this story, sans a few key elements. So this will stray from the volumes a little more than I was planning, but it will all be okay in the end.**

Ruby walked towards the large dropship that was parked in the middle of the city. Her bags had been taken and they were put on the ship already. Before she had left, Roman had given her a small decal that had her symbol on it. She had attached it to her belt.

As she walked up the ramp to go inside, she began looking around for anyone that she could talk to. She quickly spotted a girl with blazing yellow hair, and large breasts.

"Hey," Ruby said cautiously as she walked up to the girl. "I'm Ruby, nice to meet you," Ruby held out her hand.

The girl graciously took the hand. "Nice of you to 'drop' in! I'm Yang Xiao Long. Where are you coming from?"

Ruby sighed at the pun. "I'm coming from-" she stopped. She thought about the schools around for the beginner hunters and huntresses. " -Signal Academy. Nice school. Good people," she lied, hoping that Yang would agree with her.

Yang's eye lit up with this statement. "You're from Signal too? So am I! My uncle Qrow works there," she said happily. Ruby was astonished that Qrow was Yang's uncle. "Why haven't I seen you before?" Yang asked, her eyes narrowing.

"I- uh," Ruby stammered. "I'm pretty good at blending in I guess," she laughed. "I'm not exactly a very social person. Like to stay out of the light, I suppose," she lied once more.

Yang eyed Ruby and looked at her like she was judging about whether or not to be friends, or report to the police. "Signal is a pretty big school. It would make sense not to see a few people. So what made you want to come to Beacon?" Yang questioned.

Ruby stopped. Although she had expected a few people to ask her that, she never really came up with any answer for that particular question. She knew that she had to come up with an answer quickly or Yang might suspect something. "I heard some pretty good things about the school, and it was close so that was nice. I heard Pyrrha Nikos is going here as well," Ruby added as an afterthought, trying to distract Yang from the lies that she kept telling her.

"Oh I know! It'll be so great having a famous huntress-in-training here with us! I can't wait to meet her," Yang said.

Ruby looked around the dropship. A news headline showed yet another Faunus Rights Rally turning bad. Ruby made her way over to the screen, and Roman's mug shot showed up. Ruby stepped back as she heard them say once more that he was a wanted criminal. Before they could show how much the bounty was, the screen was replaced with a holographic image of a teacher telling them that they were going to arrive shortly and that they should get ready for landing.

Yang looked over at Ruby. "I can't believe they haven't caught Torchwick yet. There's no way he isn't bribing the officers to let him free. He robs Dust store after Dust store. You would think the Atlas military would step in by now. They're essentially owned by the Schnee's. You would think they would want to protect their best supplier. Hell, the oldest Schnee, Winter I think it is, works in the military," Yang commented.

"Yeah…" Ruby sighed. She knew that Roman wasn't bribing the officers. He just had skilled workers. And a girlfriend who happened to be exceptional with her sniper rifle. She wasn't going to let Yang know that, though.

When they landed at Beacon, Ruby made her way to the front of the school. Yang had left her to go hang out with some of her own friends. As Ruby made her way to the front of the school, she noticed a girl not to taller than her. As she made her way over, she noticed the Schnee symbol plastered over everything the girl owned. "Weiss," she whispered. She started to make her way towards the Heiress.

When she was about to talk to her, she accidentally tripped and plummeted into the girl's suitcases and all the briefcases. "What do you think you're doing! This is Dust! Mined and purified by the Schnee quarry. Just who do you think you are?" Weiss yelled.

Ruby got up and literally dusted off the Dust that clung to her clothes. "Excuse me, Princess," Ruby started.

"Its Heiress, actually," a voice said from behind. Ruby turned around and came face to face with the famous White Fang defector, Blake Belladonna.

"At least someone recognises me!" Weiss huffed and walked away. Her butler quickly followed after her with her mountain of things.

By the time that Ruby had turned around again to say thanks, Blake had already walked away. Ruby groaned. She was supposed to keep an eye on things, not let the two people she needed to give to Cinder get away from her.

"Seems like someone is having a hard time catching prey," a familiar voice mocked Ruby.

"Oh, shut up," Ruby said as she turned around. "What are you even doing here, Adam?I was told that this was going to be a solo job."

Adam smirked. Although she had seen him without his mask, he looked very different without it. He had fully dyed his hair black, which was strange to Ruby. His horns were hidden neatly by the black of his hair. His eyes were a bright blue, much different from his normal red eye colour. His ornately decorated suit had been replaced with a simple black one.

"I too applied to this Academy, just in case you didn't get in. It just so happens that I was accepted as well. Cinder wasn't extraordinarily happy to hear that, but she had to let it slide," he answered. "I couldn't let my favourite partner do this on her own, now could I?" he whispered in her ear.

Ruby took a step back. She knew that Adam liked her, but sometimes it was a little too overbearing. "Okay, okay. Just don't mess up this mission," Ruby said.

"You know I wouldn't dream of it."

Later that day, Ruby found Yang in the large crowd in the auditorium. Professor Ozpin gave a short speech welcoming them to Beacon and then Professor Goodwitch sent them off to the lunchroom to go to bed.

When the next day finally arrived, Ruby headed off to the locker room to get her weapon that she had been told to put in a locker. As she got ready for the day, she noticed Weiss again talking to Pyrrha. Ruby made her way over to the small group as Pyrrha threw her javelin towards Jaune. Weiss beamed and walked off, her rapier attached at her hip.

Pyrrha walked towards Jaune and removed the spear from his hood. He fell to the ground. "You know, getting things thrown at you on the real first day isn't exactly the best way to start a school year," Ruby said as she pulled Jaune up off of the floor.

"I know," he said solemnly.

As they made their way to the forest, Ruby noticed Adam tailing the group. He didn't look too suspicious, so she just let it slide. She stood on the platform that would send her flying through the air. As she stood there, she tried to figure out ways that would help her ensure that she was paired up with Blake or Weiss.

Soon enough, Ruby was launched into the air. As she flew, she grabbed Crescent Rose and hooked it onto one of the tree branches. When she fell to the ground, she used her Semblance to propel her through the forest. As she was trying to figure out where Weiss or Blake was, she almost literally ran into Weiss.

Weiss turned around and glared at Ruby. She immediately turned back around. "Wait!" Ruby called out, following Weiss through the brush.

Weiss came out of the bushes and came face to face with hoard of Grimm. She grabbed her weapon and stanced herself. She turned the Dust dial to the Red Dust, and the silver of the sword got coated with a thin layer of the red colour. She lunged forward to set the Grimm on fire. Suddenly, Ruby sprang from the bushes behind the Grimm and killed one.

Weiss swung her sword to the side, sending a stream of fire towards a tree, setting the tree on fire, and consequently, that part of the forest.

Weiss grabbed Ruby and lead her away from the fire. Ruby knew how fast a Dust fire could spread; Dust was a highly reactive source and each type of Dust had a different reaction to stimulants. Red Dust in a crystal form isn't as reactive as itself in a powder form, which the types that Weiss just happened to use with her weapon.

"We have to go," Weiss said as she pulled Ruby behind her so that they could get away from the fire.

"What was that?!" Ruby asked when Weiss got done running. She had heard all about the heiress to the famous Schnee Dust Company. There was no way that she was out of breath already. If she ever did something like that in training, her father would yell at her and tell her to practice her breathing more often.

Weiss yelled at Ruby for having her start a fire. However, Ruby had stopped paying attention and was trying to figure out where the relics could be.

"Just how dangerous are you? You blow a hole in front of the school, you ruin Dust that I brought down from Atlas, and you almost got us killed! You are like a child. I don't know how you got accepted here," Weiss scoffed and turned away from Ruby.

"A child? I'm older than you!" Ruby yelled back.

"By what? A month? Act like it. This type of behaviour would get you hurt in Atlas."

Ruby huffed. "Good thing we're not in Atlas right? But you would probably go whine to Daddy about how this girl hurt your feelings and how you want her kicked out of school. At least-"

"Ruby. Stop," a voice came from the bushes.

"Adam. What are you doing here?" Ruby asked.

"I saw a fire and wanted to make sure no one was hurt," he said, glancing over at Weiss. "Ms. Schnee. What a pleasure to meet you, I'm Adam," he held out a hand.

Weiss looked at the man clad in black. Her eyes darted up to his hair, and locked them onto his horns. She cautiously set her hand in his, obviously not trying to look rude. "Pleasure." She took her hand back and turned away. "I'm going to be going to find the relic so we can get out of here."

"I'm assuming that you have a partner? Or are you flying solo?" Ruby asked Adam once Weiss had left.

"He's catching up. Maybe," Adam said turning around. "I should probably go find him. And you should go follow the Heiress. Since she's your partner and all. You don't want our prize to leave, now do we?" Adam smirked as he faced Ruby again.

Ruby turned around and followed after Weiss again. "How you think we should find the things we need to find?" Ruby asked when she caught up to Weiss.

"Relics. And do you know that guy we just met?" Weiss asked.

"He's an old friend of mine. He lived outside of the kingdoms with me before I moved to go to Signal to train," Ruby lied again.

"Oh course he is from outside of the kingdoms," Weiss scoffed.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ruby accused. She knew it was because she was a Faunus. The Schnee's used Faunus labour in their company, so it would make sense that she wouldn't like Faunus' that much.

"He's a Faunus. And they're all liars and thieves," Weiss commented.

"Because of the White Fang, right?" Ruby said. She knew the White Fang weren't the best organisation, and it used to be much better before Cinder's mother took control a few years ago. When she died, Cinder took control of the organisation, making it even worse. But the White Fang were Ruby's family. She couldn't stick up for them much though, or Weiss might see through her disguise.

"Yes. They steal from my father's company. They've killed members of the company. Members of my family. They say they fight for good, but how good can they be if they murder people to get what they want? How good could they be if they steal things?" Weiss added.

Ruby stared at the ground. " _At least we don't force Faunus to work for us. And then underpay them. The Faunus in the White Fang are there because they want to be there. In the case of Blake though, that different. She just left. We don't know if she was telling people what was going on. We need to make sure that that isn't happening. And oh my god. I'm older than you by two years. But I can't tell you that. But you're just a little girl who thinks that everything Daddy says is true,"_ Ruby thought. "That doesn't mean all Faunus are bad. Let's just find the relic and get out of here," Ruby said, trying to figure out where they were.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Weiss asked.

Ruby looked around and she noticed a Nevermore on the ground, sleeping. She ran over to the large Grimm and climbed on top of it. "Get on," Ruby said.

"Excuse me?" Weiss questioned.

"Do you want to find these relics or not? Get on!" Ruby said once more.

Weiss slowly made her way towards the Nevermore and shakily got on. Ruby kicked the Nevermore and it woke up, obviously startled by the new presence on it's back. It's wings spread and it kicked off of the ground, sending Weiss flying towards the back. She grabbed onto one of its feathers and screamed.

Ruby looked around for anyone she recognised. As she looked, she noticed Yang, Blake and some other people she didn't recognise. "Jump!" Ruby shouted.

"What?!" Weiss screamed back. However, Ruby had not answered her.

Ruby looked up from where she was in the sky and heard her name being shouted from the Heiress above. When she fell onto the ground, she rang over to Yang. "Yang!" she said when she got over to her sister.

"Where's your partner, Ruby?" Yang asked, looking around.

Blake tugged on Yang's sleeve and pointed upwards. "Oh," Yang said as she saw a flash of white in between the black of the feathers.

"I said jump," Ruby said sadly.

"And now she's falling," Blake said.

As they watched Weiss fall, a figure jumped out of the trees and caught her. The pair dropped to the ground and the male groaned in pain as Weiss sat on top of him. Soon, they were both running over to Ruby and the rest of the group.

Before they knew what was happening, they were being attacked by multiple Grimm. Ruby told them to spread out as they made their way to more of the ruins. They split up into pairs and began to fight. Ruby told Weiss to cover her as she made her way to tell everyone about the plan that she had come up with. When everyone knew what was going down, Ruby launched herself towards the lace that came from the end of Blake's weapon.

Weiss summoned a glyph and turned it black. "You sure you can make the shot?" Ruby asked as she braced for release.

"Mm. Can I?" Weiss sarcastically asked. Noticing Ruby's concerned look, she added, "Of course I can!" Weiss spun around and unsummoned the glyph that was holding Ruby in place. She then made a row of white glyphs running up the mountain so Ruby could kill the Nevermore.

Ruby ran up the cliff and beheaded the Nevermore. Later that night, they were sorted into teams.

"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long. You will henceforth be known was Team RWBY; led by, Ruby Rose," Ozpin said.

Yang ran over and hugged Ruby. After the ceremony, they went to their newly assigned dorm room.

"I'll be right back guys. I have to go do something," Ruby said as she slipped outside and made her way to the courtyard.

She pulled out her scroll and called Roman. "Meet me by the docks in 15 minutes. I have information Cinder will want to know," she said when Roman picked up.

"Well, Red. Pushy today?" Roman joked.

"I could just go to her directly, but I would rather see you," Ruby flirted as she began to make her way to the docks. "I'll see you in a few minutes," Ruby hung up.

15 minutes later, Ruby had made it to the docks and began to wait for Roman. "Miss me, Red?" Roman said as he walked up behind his girlfriend. Ruby turned around and looked up at Roman. "Were you followed?" he added.

"Probably not. Though they are probably wondering where I am since I've been gone a while. But anyway, I have news Cinder will want to know," Ruby said.

"That can wait. I want to hear how terrible that school is," Roman said.

Ruby laughed and sat down. "They fling you into the forest and you have to fight your way to make it towards the relics. One kid, Jaune I think his name is, thought the relics were in a cave. He even managed to convince Pyrrha Nikos that he was right. I found out that Adam got into the school as well, but we aren't partners. He is on a different team than I am. I'm partnered with the Heiress," Ruby droned.

"At least you got in with the Schnee. Cinder will be pleased to hear that," Roman commented.

"That's just the tip of the iceberg. I'm on a team with Blake Belladonna, the White Fang defector, and my sister, Yang. I have all of them with me. It shouldn't have been this easy," Ruby said. She looked out at the sea and kicked her legs back and forth. "Now all I have to do is get them to trust me enough so I can bring them to Cinder. With Adam being at Beacon as well, Blake might recognise him. I don't know why he thought this would be a good idea. He's going to get caught."

Birds flew above Ruby's head and out to the sea. She looked at them for a brief second before turning back to Roman. "I don't know why Cinder thought I could do this. Now instead of just making sure that I can get through this without getting caught, I have to make sure Adam doesn't either."

"Adam went because he wanted to make sure you were safe. It made me want to punch him, but I had to let him. Too many people know what I look like so it wouldn't be safe for me to go in with you. This won't be easy, but you can do it. And the Vytal Festival is coming up next semester, so that will be the perfect time to bring your team to Cinder and watch the downfall of the Schnee Company," Roman smirked.

"This is going to be hell to keep up. Trying to balance both lives at the same time. Without letting it slip that I'm part of the White Fang and making sure that my team doesn't find out," Ruby said.

Ruby looked at the time on her scroll. The numbers flashed "8:16 pm". She set the scroll back in her pocket and pulled out a folded slip of paper. "I should be heading back to the dorm. Give this to Cinder. She will want to know what is going on," she handed the paper to Roman who put it in his breast pocket inside his coat.

Ruby and Roman both stood up from where they were sitting. Ruby stood on her toes and kissed Roman. His hand made its way to the small of her back and he pulled her closer to him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she deepened the kiss.

"Ruby," a voice called out from the edge of the docks. "What are you doing?"

Ruby pulled away and looked towards the person. "Adam. What are you doing here?" she said.

"Your teammates were wondering where you went. I guess the Heiress remembered me because she managed to find me. She figured that I would know where you were since we've been friends for so long. You really should be heading back. It's getting late and we don't want you staying out to late, now do we?" Adam teased.

Ruby glared at Adam and looked back to Roman. "He's right. It is getting late. I should get going," she said as she made her way towards Adam. "I'll see you soon," she said to Roman as she left with Adam to get back to the school.

When she got back to her dorm, she was asked many questions about where she had went. "I didn't realise I was out so long. I just wanted to take a walk, and the next thing I know, it's a few hours later. I'm sorry for worrying you all," she apologised as she made her way to her bed.

"I don't like that Adam guy. He reminds me of an old friend," Blake said. "And if he is anything like the Adam that I knew, watch out for yourself," she warned Ruby.

Ruby looked over at Blake and nodded her head. "He hasn't been a problem in the years that I've known him."

"That's how it was for him too. He was good, then over time, it got worse and worse," she said solemnly.

Ruby knew that was true. When she first met him, he was just a man trying to help bring equality to his race. But as time passed, he got more and more ruthless, not caring about who he had to kill to get his way. Ruby may not have liked what he was doing, but it was working. People were treating the Faunus with respect, and if they weren't, the White Fang stepped in to make sure they wouldn't have that issue again.

Ruby laid down and thought about what she was doing. She didn't know how she was going to pull this off, but she knew that she had to. Cinder had told her to be a part of this, and she would follow it through to the end, no matter what.

"How could can he be? He's a faunus. I don't care if he's been your friend for years," she said, gesturing towards Ruby, "I don't know how much I can trust him," she said.

"I don't see what your deal is with faunus. Not all of them are bad," Blake mentioned.

Ruby smirked at this comment. She knew that no one else knew that Blake was a faunus.

"Ruby, walk with me," Blake said, standing up from her bed and walking over to Ruby.

"Okay?" Ruby questioned.

They made their way into the courtyard of the school. "I don't know what you're doing, but I know that you were a part of the White Fang. I remember hearing your name a few times from Adam. I also know that that is Adam Taurus. You may be able to fool Weiss, Yang and even the rest of the school, but you can't fool me. And I swear, if I find out you are still a part of the White Fang and are here to do something bad, you will regret it. I don't want anyone to get hurt because of this. I made a choice to leave, and I know they are looking for me. Now Adam is here. He looks different, so if I tell anyone he's here, people will think that I'm lying, and people will know about me and I can't have that happen," Blake warned.

"I'm not a part of the White Fang anymore. I left. They became too violent, and I couldn't take it anymore. So I left. I decided to become a Huntress. Adam is here because he was told to look out for me. That's why he's here. I told him that if he does anything, I will make sure that he regrets it," Ruby lied. She hoped Blake wouldn't see through her lie. Granted, Blake did do that same thing as her, so she might be inclined to believe her lie.

"Fine. But if anything happens, you'll be the first one that I blame. Then Adam," she said. "Let's go back. They are probably wondering where we are."

"Yeah. I'm sorry," Ruby apologised.

"Why are you sorry?"

Ruby looked down at her shoes. "Because I didn't mean to bring you stress. I knew it was a bad idea for Adam to come here. I didn't even know he was. I first saw him when we first got here. Right after you left when I fell on Weiss's bags. You had walked away and he came up to me. So I'm sorry if this is stressful. I'll tell him to back off if it makes you feel any better," Ruby offered. She knew it wouldn't be much, but anything would help. If Blake dug any deeper, she would know that Ruby was lying to her.

"I just needed to know you weren't planning on doing anything bad here. I know that I'm not, and if people find out I was part of the White Fang, they would think the same thing that I am thinking. The White Fang are ruthless, and will do anything to get what they want in the world. I want you to be safe. You aren't a Faunus, so you don't understand the oppression that we face. But you do understand what the White Fang are capable of. You understand the chaos that they can inflict. I don't want that here. If I wanted to deal with that, I wouldn't have left in the first place," Blake explained.

Ruby looked at her teammate. She knew that she only wanted the best for her. Ruby didn't know if being in the White Fang was a good choice or not. Yeah, they were all wanted criminals, but they gave her and the rest of the Faunus a place to be, and they were able to help them with what they needed.

"I understand," Ruby said.

Blake and Ruby began to make their way back to their dorm room. Walking towards the school, Ruby looked at the statue that stood at the front of the school. Hunters and huntresses working together - fighting for a better world than the one that they currently live in.

Ruby turned those thought back on herself. She was fighting for a better world for the Faunus race. She could be doing it in a much better way, but it was working. Or so she hoped. Whenever they would rob a Dust store, it would be in the news about how bad the White Fang is and how people should not affiliate themselves with the group.

Now here she was, living a double life. One as a White Fang personnel, and another as a huntress. In the White Fang, everyone is expendable. They could always be replaced. In the world of hunters and huntresses, everyone was useful. They could use their strengths to help others. Semblances could help others. Ruby is able to get someone out of the way of danger in a second if it's needed. With the White Fang, they helped the other Faunus'.

Ruby didn't know what she was supposed to do anymore.

When Ruby and Blake had gotten to the dorm room, Ruby grabbed Blake's arm. "Don't tell them about this conversation. I don't want them to know," she said.

"As long as you don't tell them," Blake responded.

"Deal," Ruby smiled.


End file.
